Topical items and views on the impact of digitisation on publishing and its content and the issues that make the news. This blog follows the report 'Brave New World',
(http://www.ewidgetsonline.com/vcil/bravenewworld.html ), published by the Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland and authored by Martyn Daniels. The views and comments expressed are those of the author.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Apple: Is All PR Good?

One day you are a hero the next you are a villain. One day everyone hangs on your every word the next they hang you for every word. We saw what bad PR did to a delayed car recall recently and BP has had a mare of a communications problem since oil stated to impact its main buying community. No one is immure to bad press and not everyone can handle it. Now Appleworld certainly is experiencing a rollercoaster of a month since it launched its iPhone 4.

The iPhone 4 went on sale in late June 24 and Apple claim to have sold more than 1.7 million units in the first three days of the launch.

Should they recall the phones and correct them, simple tell people how to hold them, download a patch, or tough it out? The one thing you don’t do is act arrogant and say that there isn’t a problem when there is. The next thing you don’t do is tell people how to fix your problem and offer them a bumper at a cost of $30. The last thing you don’t do is expect it to go away – ask BP.

The Comsumer Reports statement which it could not recommend the iPhone 4 should have been taken on board. Apple blog TUAW however claimed that the company was deleting threads in its support forum that referenced the Consumer Reports ratings. The chorus of complaints continue to grow and consumer review sites question whether a recall is required.

The company so far has made two official responses to the reception issue, which has been blamed on an external antenna design. One recommended that customers refrain from holding the phone in a way that covered the bottom left corner. Another said it had discovered a software glitch that miscalculated the strength of wireless coverage in a given area.

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About Me

Before entering publishing I worked for many years as a Senior Executive in blue chip organisations in the retail, oil and automotive sectors. My publishing induction was initially as Director of Strategic Development at VISTA. There I was responsible for, and a contributor to, their highly acclaimed ‘Publishing in the 21st Century’ research series, the primary creator behind publishing services PubEasy and ‘batch.co.uk’, the initiator of the development of new Front Office systems to support publishers. In 2006 I joined Value Chain International(VCIL) initially as VP Marketing, Media and Publishing before becoming their President in 2009. In July 2011 the company's operations were acquired by Syncordia. I hold two non executive positions with publishing industry players Bibliophile Ltd and Haven Group and currently setting up Read Petite a service focused on providing digital short form material online via subscription.
Email mdaniels@opus57.co.uk